Pizza Today - September 2018 - 52

the road to pizza & pasta
Businesses need to be where their customers
are. Most of them are on their phones engaging with social media, as are most competing
businesses.

Q&A with Eric Shepherd, Director of
Marketing & Communications for OTTO
Pizza in Portland, Maine.
Eric will be leading two seminars at PPNE.
Be sure to catch "Social Media Measures for
Today's Pizzeria" on Oct. 3 at 9 a.m. and "Brand
Building: How a Consistent Look and Message
Sets You Apart" on Oct. 4 at 9 a.m.
PT: What specifically do you hope attendees
get from your sessions?
ES: My goal is to demystify social media and
branding for owner/operators who might feel
overwhelmed or intimidated. While the digital
landscape for restaurants is vast and can be
cumbersome, it doesn't have to be. I will be
presenting scalable branding and social media
strategies that have proven to be effective
for one-unit mom-and-pop shops, chains, and
anything in-between. My goal is to provide
seminar attendees with what they need to
produce measurable results on a shoestring
budget - including increased customer
engagement, brand affinity, awareness and (of
course) sales.

PT: What are some of the more common
marketing mistake you see others make?
ES: It used to be enough to just put out a
great product. Now that's no longer enough to
guarantee long-term relevancy and long-term
success. Brands today must foster an emotional
connection with customers through thoughtful
branding and social media engagement. I've
seen many great restaurants fail because they
ignored this shift.
I also see many restaurants view review
sites as a threat instead of an opportunity. I get
that reluctance; nobody likes negative coverage. The restaurants that are succeeding are
embracing review sites and social media, warts
and all, and using them to their advantage.
PT: How important is social media to a pizza
concept? Can a pizzeria succeed without social
media?
ES: Sure. Can a pizzeria grow and evolve
without social media? Very unlikely. Every
business, pizza or otherwise, needs to have a
social media presence - and I don't mean just
having a profile with a post every month or so.

PT: Why is consistency in look and messaging important?
ES: We are visual animals, and we are
emotional animals. Every experience we have
in the world is tied to our emotions and to
our senses, and these associations quickly
become ingrained in our memory. As I said
above, it's not enough anymore to just have a
great product. Restaurants need to understand that every part of the dining experience
either enhances or subtracts from customers'
emotional experience, including your logo,
the colors you employ in your branding (and
in your establishment), the voice you use in
your messaging, the look and feel of your collateral, and the language you use. All of these
elements, and so much more, become (for
better or worse) your brand identity. Take a
look around and I am confident that you'll find
that the restaurants that cultivate a distinct
and purposeful look and feel to their brand
and messaging are the ones that are succeeding and growing.
PT: How does the current state of sales
trends within your company impact your marketing decisions/initiatives?
ES: All marketers hope to plan ahead and
to be as proactive and as deliberate in their
strategies as possible. However, the reality
of the restaurant industry is that sales can be
volatile, and business can change on a dime.
In my company, we have many over-arching
strategies for guaranteeing long-term success,
but we also spend a significant amount of time
analyzing real-time data and identifying trends
(good or bad). We have several strategies for
combatting lagging trends, and we make an
effort to tweak strategies along the way to
address challenges that may arise. While I
would never advocate for spending a lot of time
in reactionary mode, restaurant marketers need
to constantly listen to their customers and their
data. They need to stay nimble, and they need
to keep an open mind.

OCTOBER 3-4, 2018 / ATLANTIC CITY CONVENTION CENTER
5 2 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8

http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM

Pizza Today - September 2018

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